Johnny Herbert has approved of Lando Norris not being friends with Daniel Ricciardo.
Norris burst onto the scene as a jolly youngster, who is regarded as a practical joker. However, his nice guy persona takes nothing away from his incredible skill. This season is the best one of his career, and he sits on a barely believable 113 points, and P3 in the WDC standings.
His relationship with current teammate Ricciardo is solid, but it’s hardly like his bromance with best friend Carlos Sainz. Herbert said that the maturity was good for Norris, and approved of his approach at not being friends with Ricciardo.
“Lando Norris is my choice for driver of the first half-season in Formula 1 this year,” Herbert said, as reported by PlanetF1.
“There is a wonderful maturity starting to appear in him, a maturity we didn’t see in the past couple of years when he was teamed with Carlos Sainz at McLaren.
“Now (that) he is with Daniel Ricciardo, there’s been a mental change because they are not friends. Lando doesn’t want to be a friend and that’s the right attitude to have. You have to be cut-throat at some point.
“Lando was so friendly, bubbly and chatty when he first came into F1 and he still is. But he has something now that wasn’t there before.”
All the right notes
Herbert also pointed out why Norris’ is having such an exemplary season. With three podiums and one almighty challenge for pole position, Herbert was full of praise for the young British driver.
“He’s delivering the goods consistently,” the two-time race winner said.
“He’s up against Daniel, and yet it’s Lando who is getting the best from the car and in the first half of the season, there has been a massive shift for everyone to see.
“Lewis Hamilton was full of praise for him after Austria and when you hear that from your fellow drivers, especially a seven-time World Champion, you take it on board and feel good about yourself.
“You relax, knowing your performance is there and you stop having to think about it. When he’s battling with the likes of Lewis, he shows good racing skills,” he concluded.
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